Thursday, 28 June 2012

Its recipe week over at Less is more and the vital ingredient is 'Paper
Piecing'

OMG I do love paper piecing and it gave me a great opportunity to use some scraps from the over flowing pile!

So here is my attempt

I actually used a old sheet of poppy paper , stamping with the delicate blossom set from Hero Arts. The stems are coloured using Jelly Roll pens and the sentiments is from Say it loud by Waltzing Mouse

And then I got a bit carried away and made another one with different scrap paper and a sentiment from Hero Arts - Made with Love

I really couldn't stop myself and the final one used the other stamp in the set with a sentiments from Hobby Art - Friends although this one is so narrow its difficult to photograph. Oh well ya get the idea
Phew I wiped out with all that activity off for a glass of something long and cool..............

Saturday, 9 June 2012

A couple more cards from a class I had with Jackie Huckstepp at the Glitter Pot. Both are made using embossing folders and the Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamp Set - Reflection. The embossing folder was stamped with the script before embossing and the only portion where it shows is in the middle and everyone that has seen it is very impressed and always intrigued as to how it is done.... well the secrets out now!

The inside was equally impressive

And the second one using a different folder and another of the script reflections I think this is one I will definitely use again.

Friday, 8 June 2012

As I said yesterday I really struggled to capture all my ideas for my Dads birthday on one card so I made two instead!. My father loves walking and taking photo's so this time I used two map stamps one from Indigo Blu and the other a Hero Arts cling background - Roma and coloured then with distressed inks. A sentiment from Paperbag Studios, and a die cut Tim Holtz Bigz Die - Vintage Camera. I finally finished it off with a Happy Birthday stamp from Waltzing Mouse, my favourite place to shop at the moment.

Thursday, 7 June 2012

Finally a card that I have made from scratch at home. This one was for my father who had a special birthday recently and although I always moan about making cards for men I had given this quite a bit of thought and actually struggled to keep it under control. Anyway given that the weather has been so terrible I based my design around the sentiment at the bottom of the card "Its raining Love and Birthday Wishes". This meant I just had to use the Umbrella Man Die by Tim Holtz, but decided rather rashly to use it to bridge a whole section that I had removed from the card and then promptly had to cut 3 more to reinforce the gap! The main section of the card is embossed with the Couture Creations Embossing Folder - World Fair Collection - Timepiece, distressed with Brushed Corduroy and then popped a Bigz - Tim Holtz - Weathered Clock on top in gold mirri card. Of course the time had to be set to 7 0 'clock!

Wednesday, 6 June 2012

Today's cards include the other half of the cards made at my recent class at The Glitter Pot with Alex Kamann. Both cards are made using the resist technique with the very pretty new Penny Black wooden stamp - Flamboyant. The first one is simply stamped with versafine and embossed with clear detailed embossing powder. I then used daubers to add distress inks to the paper. For this one I used Broken China, Peeled Paint and Seedless preserve

The second one is similar to the one above, but this time the image is stamped in Imperial Purple versafine and then in versamark just to the right to create a slight halo effect, then embossed in clear and the distress inks added as above, only this time I only used the Peeled Paint and Broken China.

As this is a scheduled post I have no news yet on my ESIL, so please keep those positive thoughts flowing her way.

Tuesday, 5 June 2012

Back again with some speedy cards that we made at a super slick class with Alex Kamann our copic colourist extraordinaire....... The two below are both made using distress inks and a lovely Hero Arts stamp called Silhouette Vines. The first one is embossed in detail black and then the flowers coloured with Seedless Preserves, Peeled Paint and Mustard Seed. It really makes the flowers pop. The second card, which I love was supposed to be in reverse to the first, but you know me...... I replaced the Seedless Preserve ink with Broken China and added a little bit of Spiced Marmalade. Well its good to add a bit of spice to your life...... This time I clear embossed the stamp in clear and then rubbed Vintage Photo instead of black and I am really pleased with the result.

This card was really quick as it has one background stamp Hero Arts Newspaper background, three stripes of dotted Washi tape and the patterned rectangle was made with nothing more than two copics (of course I didn't write down the numbers did I!!) A quick message and a couple of brads and a home made flower using three discs of paper which have been sprayed with water scrunched up and left to dry & Voila!

Another pair of quick cards to make once the original paper is dry. A square piece of gloss paper covered with an Imagination Crafts stencil - Butterfly Delight. We spritzed with Cosmic Glimmer mists, copper, red, bronze and teal. I then lay another piece of plain paper on top which picked up the mist which was sitting on the mask itself. Two for the price of one..... once dry these cards took minutes to assemble

Finally wasn't the parade today marvellous and it was great to see everyone on the Mall waving flags and all so happy to have seen the Queen for a few seconds on the way to St Pauls and back. Some people had camped out all night, now that's dedication.

Unfortunately I had some really bad news this afternoon about my ex-sister in law, who is very seriously ill in hospital following a stroke at the age of 43. Our thoughts and prayers are with her, her new husband and my nephew who is only 13.

Monday, 4 June 2012

Well, what a weekend this is turning out to be..... Saturday was the Summer Spectacular at the Glitter pot..... is it really possible to spend so much when one appears to have everything (quotes Dean!). We then travelled down to Seaford with fellow crafting buddy Janet and her husband, where we had lunch, a lovely blowy walk along the beach (the sun even emerged for a little while!) and a little tour of their perfectly formed holiday caravan on the cliffs overlooking this beautiful stretch of beach. I am amazed at how much you can fit into such a restricted amount of space. Albeit should my crafty friend have put in even a fraction of her stash, we probably wouldn't have been able to move!!

Back in Cobham we were just in time to enjoy the last couple of hours of the street party which was still heaving 2 hours after the road closure licence expired. Good job all the people who would have driven down the cul-de-sac were making merry!

Yesterday was so miserable I couldn't stir myself to do anything, so packed the boys and the dog off down the pub and sat glued to the TV watching the River Pageant from start to finish. I have to say what an impressive lady our Maj is. I think I would have been struggling to stand all the way down the Thames and that weather let alone at the age of 86 years. She epitomises everything that is great about this country, and for this weekend all thoughts of austerity and recession are put away whilst we celebrate with this fantastic lady.

Today we ventured out to a fabulous pub (sod the diet!) near Chalfont St Peter in Bucks with the MIL. They had a huge free pig roast available for all their patrons, but we didn't want to wait and had some of their fabulous signature dishes instead. Once we had dutifully spent the afternoon fussing around her (yes I won't elaborate, but you know the personality!) we slopped off home for another night in front of the TV (well its the weather) and a watched the concert in the Mall. Once again a fabulous event, but managed to keep the Kleenex at bay until (in my opinion) Lydia sang the Gary Barlow song. I have managed to include the link from Youtube and I defy you to watch this through and not feel a well of pride at being British.

Finally I am a winner! The lovely Michelle Short over at the Card Grotto recently had a birthday and gave away some lovely candy as you can see below to yours truly! I shall have great fun playing with this and if you have a chance please check out Michelle's blog which is simply stunning.

Well as seems to be normal at the moment I need to dash so I can get dinner cooked and get my prime seat ready for the concert tonight..... how exciting.

Sunday, 3 June 2012

Back again with some more cards from the Glitter Pot. This time by the uber talented Jane Gill. The cards have been stamped in Black Archival ink and clear embossed. They are then coloured with Sakura Gelly Roll pens, which I don't know about you, but mine have not seen the light for quite

some time!

This card uses the With Love Doodle and matted on some Bazzill scraps. I love the coral colour, but don't ask me what colour it is! The heart is made with Card Candi and provides some lift on what could have been quite a flat card.

The camera wouldn't behave for this card as I couldn't keep it all in focus and not have a shadow at the top..... I still think you can see the detail. Once again a Woodware stamp. but this time we used the Huge Cake and |Candles. Coloured with Sakura Gelly roll pens again, but this time I picked some colours which would be more appropriate for a wedding and a touch of stickles to bring out the edges of the icing.

Another Doodle stamp - Happy Birthday, which I coloured with a Primary palate and I think this would be a very useful stamp for kids, especially with the Huge Cake and Candles stamped onto shrink plastic lightly coloured and then shrunk down and used as an embellishment.

Finally my favourite layout and stamp and of course that means the worst photo.This one is purely light related as the weather is not conducive for taking macro shots. Once again we used a Doodle stamp - Best Wishes coloured with Sakura Gelly Roll pens.... I must dust mine off again as these are such quick and easy cards to make......

Right must dash I need to get my prime position on the sofa for the Queens Diamond Jubilee river pageant. How exciting............

Saturday, 2 June 2012

Back again soon, I bet you are all in shock! Once I had taken all the photos (badly) in my craft room last night I felt so motivated to get back on the blog again and the rest of my weekend is so jammed packed so I scheduled this for today and whilst you are reading this I will be filling my basket down at the Glitterpot Summer Spectacular, whilst Dean patiently waits in the car with the dog!!

I just love the colours that the very talented Jackie Huckstepp used in the cards. They all use distress inks and the Tim Holtz Fairytale Frenzy stamp set, each one has a different technique. This first one is embossed using the Bubble set.

This second one uses the new distress markers and I have to say that I am probably going to upset many crafters when I say that I really don't get on with them. I love all the other Tim Holtz products and the inks have to sit in my top five items I couldn't live without, but I found they didn't blend the way I wanted. However the finished result still looked good and I love the colours... way out of my normal range.

This final card used the ultra trendy splatter technique to add definition to the card which had been distressed with Worn Lipstick ink and then splattered with water and patted dry. The colour lifts off and looks great. The stamp is a Woodware stamp called Grasses that I was already in love with. It stamps beautifully. I have coloured it with distressed markers and then softened the edges with water.

Friday, 1 June 2012

Yippee an extra long weekend thanks to this fabulous lady. I have to say a big WOW to her..... 60 years doing the same job and what a great one she has done. The whole of our cul-de-sac in leafy Cobham is covered in bunting and flags and looks so pretty. I am an unabashed whole hearted royalist, which is hardly surprising given is was born within the shadow of Windsor Castle! The whole highstreet is also covered in flags and quite a number of the streets will be closing at noon for street parties. Dean my partner is quite the opposite so I have agreed a compromise from all the festivities with a morning at the GlitterPot Summer Spectacular and an afternoon down on the south coast walking the dog. But when he slopes off to a soggy game of cricket on Sunday I will be a full patriot and glued to all the festivities.

So back to business with a few photos of the cards I have been making down at the Glitter Pot with the girls. These cards were made using the lush dies from the King of craft himself Tim Holtz.

I just love these colours and the bird cage has been covered in the Frantage embossing Enamel - Aged Rose

This one uses the On the edge die - Doily, which is beautiful when it works and an real pain if you don't get the right shim. I love the way it looks when its layered and these colours are so elegant.

This card uses the Movers and Shakers Die - Dream, which was really tricky to cut through the base card, but it looked so good when shadowed with the Jacaranda blue Bazzill card stock. The paper is antique script and the paper is the beautiful new forget-me-not paper from Magnolia.The stamp is an individual TH stamp - Flutter and is overlaid by the bird from the Caged Bird die.

Finally I think this is my fav of the day and uses the Sewing Room die and the On the Edge Die - Sewing Edge. The colour combination is so me and using the silver card candy really makes the silver mirri card sissors more real. The Tim Holtz Alterations - Texture Fades Embossing Folders - Pattern & Stitches
Set, which has been distressed with Black Soot.

Sunday, 19 February 2012

Dear all
I have ventured out of my old habits and tried my hand at a new challenge over at Less is more. This week they have the theme of Punches or Die Cuts, which is heaven for me as I have absolutely fallen in love with the memory box dies and now I have my Mojo back having been itching to have a play. So here is my entry......

Not quite fully in the spirit, but I hope to pare down to the reems of white that the rest of the limetts are already conversant with and boy have they come up with some fabulous cards.

Friday, 17 February 2012

It seems only five minutes since I was posting that we were off around the world for a few months. You can see from our other blog that we had a great time, but it all ended far too soon and now we are back into the daily grind of life.
One thing that did seem to disappear is my mojo for crafting. I struggled all through the autumn hardly making a card and unhappy with every one. I even tried classes at the Glitter Pot and although it was great to catch up with all the 'girls' I still couldn't settle back in my craft den. Christmas was equally frustrating and even though I started hopping around all the lovely creations on blogland Mr Mo was truely out partying with Ms Jo.

New Year and back off on our travels with a five day trip to Moscow which was expensive but amazing and I started to get the creative urges back........ but only to take photo's ........As usual we then jetted off to watch England cricket side, this time for a week in Dubai & Abu Dhabi. Dubai was a horrible dusty, place full of dead buildings following the financial crisis. However Abu Dhabi was beautiful, opultent and over the top. The colour and sun all started to stimulate my senses and when we got back I was stirred to make some cards for Valentines day. I even made enough to sell at work....... more money for stash and went off to the GP last saturday to spend my new found wealth. I also did a class with Jane Gill which was fun!

So here is one of the cards (rubbish photo I know! Must get light box out) I made which I am going to belatedly enter some into some challenges:

About Me

Hi there
Thank you for visiting my blog. Only time will tell if I manage to keep up with all this technology and how often I really will post! I live in leafy Surrey with my gorgeous Dean and cat Minx and spend as much time as possible crafting which is not a long as I wish as I work full time as an Accountant in Higher Education
All cards and other creations are my copyright - I am more than happy for you to use my creations as inspiration, however please respect my right not to have my designs copied or enter them for publication, competitions, etc.